LOS ANGELES - The deep-sea adventure "Finding Nemo" hooked the top spot at the box office Sunday with an estimated $70.6 million opening weekend.

The Disney-Pixar comedy, about a worrisome clownfish searching for his aquarium-trapped young son, sank the Jim Carrey (news) God-comedy "Bruce Almighty" to second place with $35.6 million, according to studio estimates.

Meanwhile, the Mark Wahlberg (news) caper remake "The Italian Job" opened in third place with $19.3 million, while "The Matrix Reloaded" continued to plunge after its spectacular debut three weeks ago, landing in fourth place with $15 million.

The horror flick "Wrong Turn," starring Eliza Dushku (news) as one of several lost teenagers hunted by woodland mutants, was the only other film to open in wide release. It earned a weak $5.01 million for seventh place.

"Finding Nemo" scored the biggest debut ever for an animated film, swimming past the $62 million opening for previous record-holder "Monsters Inc.," which also was a Disney-Pixar collaboration.

All of the companies' previous films — "Toy Story," "A Bug's Life," "Toy Story 2" and "Monsters Inc." — opened at No. 1.

"This is as much of a sure-thing at the box office as you can get," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

The blockbuster debut of "Finding Nemo" is even more impressive considering many tickets sales for the family-themed movie were discounted for children or matinee shows, he added.

"The $70 million represents a lot more tickets for that G-rated film than for an R-rated film, where all the tickets reflect an adult admission price," Dergarabedian said.

That's not to say "Finding Nemo" lacks grown-up fans. The film collected near-unanimous praise from film critics, and Disney distribution chief Chuck Viane said demand from adult moviegoers filled many late-night screenings.

"The Italian Job," a remake of the 1969 Michael Caine (news) heist-thriller, also garnered a wealth of positive reviews and Paramount spokeswoman Nancy Kirkpatrick said the studio is hoping good word-of-mouth will help turn it into a sleeper hit over the long-run.

Many summer films open big and fade fast. Last weekend, "The Matrix Reloaded" shed more than 60 percent of its audience, and "Bruce Almighty" saw ticket sales fall by 48 percent in its second week.

"The Matrix Reloaded" remains the highest-grossing film of the year, however, with $232 million. The final part of the trilogy, "The Matrix Revolutions," is scheduled to open in November.

The following are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - North American moviegoers fell hook, line and sinker for the fishy fable "Finding Nemo," which sold about $70.6 million worth of tickets in its first three days, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

The computer-animated family movie, about an anxious clown fish who seeks to rescue his plucky son from an office aquarium, set a new opening record for a cartoon, surpassing the $62.5 million bow of "Monsters, Inc." in November 2001.

Both films were produced by Walt Disney Co. and Pixar Animation Studios Inc., whose partnership has now resulted in five consecutive No. 1 blockbusters, dating back to their first collaboration, 1995's "Toy Story."

"Nemo," which features the voices of Albert Brooks (news), Ellen DeGeneres (news) and Willem Dafoe (news), was directed and co-written by Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton.

The film sent the Jim Carrey (news) comedy "Bruce Almighty" to the No. 2 slot with $35.6 million, and a 10-day haul of $135.7 million. "Bruce" was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal SA .

The top 10 boasted two other newcomers. "The Italian Job," a remake of an obscure 1969 Michael Caine (news) crime caper, opened at No. 3 with a strong $19.3 million. The film, which stars Mark Wahlberg (news), Charlize Theron (news) and Edward Norton (news), was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc .

The top five was rounded out by the Keanu Reeves (news) sci-fi extravaganza "The Matrix Reloaded," which fell two places to No. 4 with $15 million in its third weekend. Its 62 percent drop was the steepest in the top 10, and observers said the Warner Bros. release will struggle to reach $300 million, a target previously thought fairly easy. The total currently stands at $232 million.

Warner Bros. distribution president Dan Fellman said the film should reach $275 million-$280 million in its main run, with figures bolstered when the film begins a large-screen run in Imax Corp theaters on Friday.

Warner Bros., a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc., produced "The Matrix Reloaded" with Village Roadshow Pictures, a unit of Australia's Village Roadshow Ltd .

The No. 5 slot went to the Eddie Murphy (news) comedy "Daddy Day Care," also down two places, with $6.8 million its fourth weekend. The film, released by Sony Corp (news - web sites).'s Columbia Pictures, has earned $82 million to date. Studio officials expect it to end up with just over $100 million.

Overall receipts exceeded year-ago sales for the second consecutive weekend, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. The top 12 films grossed $165.5 million, up 42 percent from last year when "The Sum of All Fears" opened at No. 1 with $31 million. The main newcomer next weekend is "2 Fast 2 Furious," a sequel to the 2001 street-racing drama "The Fast and the Furious."